Reconstruction
by UniquelyMi
Summary: The Marauders were bad. The Trio was worse. But whether inherent or taught, nothing can compare to the next generation and their pechant for throwing Hogwarts into chaos. One-shots detailing the next generation at Hogwarts; individual summeries inside.
1. Potters

**Summary: **Minerva McGonagall had been through 3 generations of Potters, but this one was worse than all of them combined. Written for Round 4 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.

**Disclaimer: **You wish J.K. Rowling wrote on this site.

**Prompt number: 4 - Albus Severus Potter**

**Potters**

In her one hundred odd years, Minerva McGonagall had encountered three generations of Potters.

First it had been Charles Potter, the charming man who had helped her in Transfiguration and broken the heart of every girl in Hogwarts (including hers, though she'd never admit it) when he finally went out with the clever and innovative Dorea Black, who left her family and everything it stood for as soon as she could.

Then James Potter came, looking so much like his father Minerva could never get Charles out of her head when she saw him. He had quickly made a name for himself with his mischief-making and talent in Transfigurations. It was ever amusing to watch him chase down Lily Evans, stubborn and studious and always seeking justice, defending almost all his victims, especially Severus.

And of course, there was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, but more importantly for her, a Gryffindor worthy of the title. She had never let him see how much affection she had for the boy she had once bounced on her knee until he bumped into her one day, a single tear dripping onto Dumbledore's grave. Perhaps she had overcompensated, trying so hard to not show him favoritism in class. But behind his father's face and flying ability he had Lily's eyes, Lily's mannerisms, Lily's _handwriting_, and very often she had cried over one of his essays, remembering two of her favorite students.

His friends had not helped a whit. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley _really_ weren't Lily and James incarnate to watch over their son. Hermione's eyes were not green, and Ginny's hair resembled Lily's much closer, but when she was helping Harry and Ron in class, answering a question, or standing up for her beliefs, Minerva could see Lily. She could only pity Severus. It was no wonder he had tried so hard to break her of the habit of quoting the textbook; that had been Lily's trademark. Hermione even did it with the same intonation.

Ron was less similar to James Potter. He was not talented at Transfigurations, for one thing. But he was innocent and fun-loving and tactless and just what Harry had _needed_, especially after growing up with the Dursleys. Minerva didn't know the details, but after taking one look at Harry she had been ready to fly to the Dursleys, do - she didn't even dare think what she would do, and then fight Albus for custody of Harry. Ron had given him what he needed - a friend that found him interesting but would see him as a person and not a savior or someone to manipulate. He had just talked, and made Harry laugh, and learn those values that all children should learn, and kept the three together.

But despite having known Charles, James, and Harry and their respective friends, Minerva had been utterly unprepared for the chaos that was the next generation.

* * *

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat announced and James Potter II jumped off the stool and ran to Minerva's old House, where he was welcomed happily and soon joined by Fred Weasley. Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose in resignation.

Two weeks later, Hogwarts changed color completely. Instead of the old black ("But it was so dull!") all the walls were suddenly splashed with color.

"Change it back!" Minerva ordered the unrepentant pranksters.

Fred and James shrugged, smiling innocently at her. "But we don't know how!"

Minerva sighed and behind her, the portraits of former Headmasters and Headmistresses looked with amusement or disapprovement at them. Severus glared especially hard. "You preformed a prank you didn't know how to reverse?"

"_We_ didn't perform the prank," Fred protested earnestly.

"Yeah! You can't accuse us without proof. Aunt Hermione always says that anyone is innocent until proven guilty," James agreed.

"Unless you're Potter or Weasley spawn," Severus muttered. "Then you're guilty unless proven innocent."

Minerva choked back a laugh at Severus's comment, not quite believing that she was actually agreeing with him. And yet he had put it so _perfectly._

She settled in for a long year.

* * *

The next year was, if possible, even worse.

This year was Albus Potter and Rose Weasley and Molly Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy, who threw Hogwarts in complete disarray almost instantly.

After Albus and Scorpius managed to get into the same House: "HUFFLEPUFF!" and were seen exchanging hi-fives, it really wasn't surprising when Rose and Molly went to "RAVENCLAW!" They had brains, after all.

It didn't take long for Fred and James to mockingly turn the two red and gold. Not having pranked Hufflepuffs directly before, they hadn't anticipated the reaction their House would have.

"Is it even possible to put a whole House in detention?" Minerva asked Albus's portrait wearily a week later.

Severus snickered and Minerva glared. "This is _your_ namesake we're talking about."

A knock sounded and Minerva sighed. "Come in!"

Her breath hitched when she saw Albus Potter, looking even more like Harry from up close, and Scorpius, who resembled Draco Malfoy in everything but expression.

She concealed it hastily, though. "Yes?"

Albus slipped her a piece of paper that she hadn't seen him take out. She scanned it hastily and nearly fainted. It was a list of demands from Hufflepuff House that they wanted to be punishable by turning the student to Hufflepuffs. After seeing what revenge was like from the reputed "loyal" House, the very idea made her shudder.

Minerva composed herself and read it. Some of the demands, like the one that stopped people from calling Hufflepuffs weak (not that anyone would dare after this) were reasonable. Others…not so much.

"No, you may _not_ administer Veritaserum freely. Merlin, where do you get these ideas?"

Albus and Scorpius smiled together, sending a shiver down Minerva's spine. "But Professor, it's a common way for Hufflepuffs to find justice. We do it regularly and it's fine, we swear."

Chancing a glance around at the portraits of former Heads, Minerva was shocked to find that the Hufflepuff ones were nodding. "Keeps anyone from being unfairly punished!" one of them said.

Shaking her head, Minerva moved down the list. It wasn't long before she stopped again. "You are _not_ going to force students to help others with their homework."

"Again, it's common in Hufflepuff," Albus said calmly. "Promotes House unity and keeps all of our grades up, while teaching valuable skills in life. You can't deny that it's sensible, Professor."

Minerva didn't make another comment until she finally reached the end.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, but I can't agree to all of this." She handed the paper back with marks on the parts she found unacceptable. "Please reconsider and in the meantime, kindly allow the Gryffindors to eat, read, sleep, and everything else that has been made impossible." She wasn't sure how they had put stinging hexes on the Gryffindor beds, but she was tired just _seeing_ the starved and exhausted students. Of course, Severus fully supported the Hufflepuffs' actions.

The next day, Rose Weasley appeared with Molly Weasley II, with a list of demands the _Ravenclaws_ had.

"We've decided to ally with the Hufflepuffs," she said cheerfully. "We consulted with them and we've compiled a new list of demands that hopefully you'll agree to."

Minerva closed her eyes, wondering how everything had gotten so bad. She steeled herself as she read the first line.

"No, you may NOT experiment on students!"

"It's all in the name of science, though," Rose said, looking at her with innocent eyes. "And if any of them die, we'll be sure to compensate their families nicely and write thoughtful letters of condolence."

Minerva actually banged her forehead onto the table this time.

"Are you okay, Professor?" Molly asked sweetly. Her eyes flew open into a look of concern. "Do you think the compensation wouldn't be necessary, perhaps?"

A gentle touch pulled Minerva out of her happy fantasies of running away. Looking into Rose's concerned eyes, she couldn't help but be very, very worried. How had this all gotten so bad?

As if reading her mind - she wouldn't put it past Rose to be able to - Rose responded, "You know, it wouldn't have gotten nearly so bad if the Gryffindors had just apologized instead of retaliating. But after that, well, these stem back centuries, you know."

No, she did _not_ know. She did _not_ know that Hufflepuff alumni had reunions every three days or that they were required to go to any Hufflepuff that needed help and called. She did not know that Ravenclaws had compounded centuries of blackmail because they could see everything; hear everything (though of course, they wouldn't tell anyone important information unless asked), or that they had the most cheaters and bullies of any House.

She did not know because nobody knew and nobody had bothered to know for the past few generations, at least. Suddenly she realized what they wanted.

"You just want to change things, don't you?" Minerva accused.

Genuine smiles appeared on Rose and Molly's face. "See?" Molly said. "I told you it would be worth it."

"What do you _really_ want?" Minerva asked. She knew, or at least she thought she knew, but she wasn't willing to risk it. Not when there were students fainting from lack of sleep and food. The realization that Hufflepuffs genuinely didn't care about other Houses and Ravenclaws were fine with going so far to do what they believed was right was dizzying.

Rose and Molly looked at each other and smiled. "We want to break House boundaries," they said together.

"And you couldn't have just _said_ so?" Severus's portrait muttered.

* * *

Minerva was almost looking forward to Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley. The sweet, innocent pair couldn't be _worse_ than any of the others, right?

Wrong.

The "sweet, innocent" Lily and Hugo first proceeded to get into "SLYTHERIN!"

And then they turned life upside down for the nervous Hogwarts students.

As the last piece of Hogwarts fell in, Fred, James, Rose, Molly, Albus, and Scorpius all united with Lily and Hugo. Looking back, Minerva would realize that Lily and Hugo had been planning this since they knew about Hogwarts.

Completely disregarding every single unspoken rule of Hogwarts, they came to class wearing Muggle clothes, and persuaded most of their friends (including many Slytherins) to begin using Muggle supplies. There was technically no _rule_ stating you had to be in uniform, just that you had to _have_ robes. Wearing protective goggles and aprons in Potions class was practical rather than offending, though charming them onto everyone else as soon as they walked in was certainly not allowed. And _how_ they managed to replace all of the portraits with comics, shows on history, and "live" battles was something Minerva still wondered about.

But educational and practical jokes aside; what they really did was worse.

They incited the House Elves into rebellion.

It was something Hermione Granger had tried to do, but she had failed and only gotten the House Elves to shun the Gryffindor tower, as Minerva later learned. But these children, with their well-placed words actually did it.

House Elves loved housework like Hermione loved reading, but they needed to survive, so for a while only the most privileged House Elves could clean and cook. The others searched for work.

Enter wizards.

Wizards disliked housework, so many House Elves would knock on doors looking for work and get food in return. One day, an intelligent House Elf made an agreement with a wizard. He would give her work, food, and shelter. In return, she would protect his family and never leave. Soon almost all House Elves had entered similar agreements. However, time passed, and wizards began to worry about other things, like inheritance. That one was simple; they tied the House Elves to a manor. Scared of their magic, they forced House Elves to punish themselves when they disobeyed.

At first House Elves tolerated this, but they liked it less and less very rapidly. Voldemort treating them like scum was only the breaking point. From then on, House Elves were determined that wizards would never mistreat them again. While most House Elves were unable to unite and were less educated as a whole, Hogwarts was the prime place for a rebellion.

Somehow, Albus, at least, must have known this. He persuaded Hufflepuff House that they should clean up after themselves and suddenly Hogwarts' House Elves lost a quarter of their work.

The next day they went on strike.

Minerva later learned that they had disappeared to clean up the Chamber of Secrets. But meanwhile, Hogwarts was in chaos. They had never before realized how much they _depended_ on House Elves.

Slytherin House was the second to give in and just clean up after themselves, to much surprise. It was probably Lily and Hugo's influence. In fact, Gryffindor House was the most resistant, stubbornly refusing to do it for various reasons.

Minerva tried everything to get Albus to tell her where they were. He politely refused. Eventually she learned that every time she asked something in her office would be destroyed and she stopped.

When a House Elf representative appeared in her office, she didn't even wait for him to demonstrate how powerful a House Elf could be.

"Whatever you want, just tell me," Minerva said hastily.

Portraits behind her grumbled at the indignity but she shot them a withering glare and they shut up.

The House Elf smiled disarmingly. "Boppy and others want work and food and a place to stay. And we not want to hurt us. If we be happy, we be helping defend you too. Eee?"

"What does "eee" mean?"

"Here is mean how you say 'Yes?'."

Minerva suddenly realized that House Elves had a different language from them, to her shame. It explained the grammar. "I'm fine with that. I never liked the self-punishment, anyways."

Boppy looked confused. "Then why not stop?"

"Well…other wizards wouldn't like it.

"We not want stop working. We want not hurt us," Boppy stated.

Faced with his accusing eyes, Minerva felt guilty. Softly she said, "Minerva scared."

Boppy beamed as she used their way of speaking. "See? House Elf grammar smarter, eee?"

Minerva couldn't stop the laugh from escaping her lips. "How Minerva stop you hurt you?" She struggled with the odd grammar, but it was worth the light in Boppy's eyes.

Boppy beckoned and she followed him curiously, ignoring the stares she was getting from the rather conservative portraits. He led her to the place where the Head could control the wards. He pointed to a place Minerva had never noticed. "Not have this and free House Elves."

Minerva examined the tie he was pointing to. It was relatively easy to get rid of. She nodded to Boppy. "Minerva will do."

A smile spread across Boppy's face but he didn't leave. Minerva wasn't sure if she wanted him to watch, but if that was what he wanted, she was scared to press. The enchantment was harder to get rid of then she had thought, but when it disappeared, Boppy cheered. "Yay! Help because want, not have, and no stinky clothes!"

"House Elves hate clothes?" Minerva asked. "Why?"

Boppy gave her a look that clearly said she was stupid. "Why like clothes?"

Well, there was nothing she could say to that. Boppy waved one last time, and then disappeared.

* * *

Fortunately, there were no more major periods of starvation after that. Pranks henceforth involved well-designed historical plays, turning classrooms into Muggle-style ones, and elaborate welcomes designed for the incoming first years.

Minerva should have known something was up when the Pink Panther began playing as the first years came in. But she still wasn't prepared when she stood up and the Great Hall went dark.

And then there was a whistling sound as lights shot up and cracks as fireworks exploded in the night sky, the music changing to one of the Weird Sisters' most popular pieces. "Welcome, first years!" was written in the skies, before falling down again. Gasps were heard from below as every head turned up.

"LUMOS!" was shouted and a hundred wands seemed to have lit, the last fireworks fading.

Now two teams of brooms seemed to shoot overhead, illuminated by wandlight. Someone ducked when one person came too close, but the scene was an illusion and nothing more.

The snitch was caught and then it cracked open, a scroll seeming to fly out that said "Hogwarts, A History!"

Scenes flitted as the captivated audience watched Hogwarts and the rest of the Wizarding world through time. Someone screamed when they got to the Forbidden Forest and all that lay inside. It ended with the dramatic conclusion of the last battle - _Of course they wouldn't mention all that recently happened_, Minerva thought wryly - and then the lights came back on, the ceiling turned back into a starry night, and Minerva was left standing.

"Thank you, whoever put that presentation together, and 10 points from whoever's House," Minerva said.

There were chuckles before they silenced.

"I don't think I have anything more to say, except to thank the House Elves for this meal, so welcome back, and eat up!"

And the food appeared and life returned back to normal.

At least, as normal as life could get with students like hers!

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Because They're Slimy

**Summary: **"Dad, what do you have against Slytherins?" "They're all a bunch of slimy snakes, that's what." There's only a few days left before Rose's fifth year starts, but somehow she manages to get into yet another argument with Dad on that subject. Parody of Slytherin-bashing and (sort-of) Ron-bashing. Written for the Back to School Competition.

**Disclaimer: **Am not J.K. Rowling, do not own Fanfiction (not even my own - plagarize at will), yarn, or any of the other things mentioned in here. Hope that's clear! Also, not intended to insult anybody's hard work (though I hope I didn't) or opinions. Unless you think snakes are actually slimy. Then you should read more.

**Because They Are**

"Dad, _what_ are you eating?" Rose Weasley asked her father in shock.

Dad was leaning back on the sofa, popping pieces of what looked like yarn into his mouth. Scattered around him were bits and pieces of blue that he seemed to have dropped while shoving the thick sewing material into his mouth.

"Mint yarn," he answered through a mouthful.

"Dad, mouth _shut_," Rose scolded, aware that she sounded like her mother when she did that. "And what in the name of Merlin is mint yarn?"

Dad chuckled, his tongue colored blue. "It's the annual Back-To-Hogwarts Wheeze."

"I thought that was Edible Sweaters," Rose answered. "They came out a week ago, remember?"

"Well, some people wanted to personalize it, and before you know - edible yarn. This one is the blue flavored one. Want to try some?" He held out a thick ball of blue mint yarn.

Rose took a rough-feeling strand and popped it into her mouth, feeling it dissolve, a cool peppermint taste flooding her mouth. She closed her eyes, caught in the tide of mint, and exhaled. A minty flavor wafted up to her nose. "It's good!" she said as she plopped into a somewhat bouncy, blue and orange seat with an S-shaped back that Muggles had invented. It was supposedly good for her posture.

Because each of the family members preferred different chairs - Mum a straight backed, cushioned seat, Hugo what was basically a really big, squat, cylindrical pillow, Dad his sofa, and Rose her bouncy chair, there was a strange assortment of chairs in the living room around the flat, pockmarked table that they played Exploding Snap and chess on in the light of the fire. A red and gold rug covered the polished wooden floor, but the walls were a light blue at Rose's insistence. She refused to live in a house without _some_ Ravenclaw colors.

Dad beamed. "Isn't it? And charmed to be clean, like the Edible Sweaters. George hasn't made it Slytherin-proof yet, but it's only a matter of time."

Rose ignored that last comment. Their disagreement on Slytherin would forever be a bone of contention between them. "I'm going back to Hogwarts tomorrow!" she said happily instead.

"Oh, my poor little Rosie, going back to face those mean Slytherins with only a few of your loyal lion family members to protect you," Dad moaned, looking at her sadly. "Don't worry, James and Fred will be with you as much as they can."

Rose rolled her eyes. You would think that having Lily and Hugo, who were practically the definition of Slytherin, would have inured Dad, but no, he still held fast to his prejudices like a baby with his rattle. And to think that his wife led the movement for equality and change in the Ministry and (if she said so herself) his children at Hogwarts.

"I can protect myself," she said slightly coldly, sitting up straighter than she already normally did. "What do you have against Slytherins?"

As soon as the words left her lips she wanted to bang her head for being stupid. During times like these, she could understand the house elves' self-punishment. She _knew_ this would start yet another debate that would result in her wanting to hex Dad for stupidity.

Sure enough, Dad answered in a matter-of-fact voice, "They're all a bunch of slimy snakes."

"Dad, snakes aren't slimy. They just look that way because of the way the sun reflects from their scales," Rose answered automatically. To try to distract herself from Dad she ran through her plans for the year.

In the four years she had been at Hogwarts, she had organized and helped carry out what were now being called, respectively, the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw Rebellion, the House Elf Uprising, the Education Edification, and the Muggle-Magic Coeducation Campaign.

This year, Rose wasn't sure what was being planned. She knew Lily, Albus, and her errant little brother were cooking something up, but whatever it was, they were keeping mum.

"…evil," she heard Dad say, but she knew what he had said before.

For a grand total of three seconds Rose didn't retort. And then she gave in to the need to correct him and said, "Excuse me?"

"Rosie, I know it's hard for you accept - Hogwarts has bloody well corrupted you - but Slytherins are evil. Just look at Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy…"

If this wasn't Dad, Rose would have hexed him. Why couldn't he have been like…Professor Longbottom and have gotten over it? Instead she made a strangled noise. "Lily? Hugo?" She paused. Bad examples. "Never mind, those two _are_ evil. But what about Irena Parkinson? Katrina Orleans? Anita Wood? Zygo Matic? Cindy Habir?" She named names of some of the most ethical people in the school.

"Exceptions," Dad said promptly, a response that caught Rose off guard before mentally groaning. "The Sorting Hat makes mistakes."

"That's a whole lot of mistakes then," Rose deadpanned. It seemed this debate was going in _that_ direction. "Besides, Slytherins are picked for their traits, _not_ for being evil, believe it or not. And if you actually _look_ at the statistics, Ravenclaw house has produced the most villains." Intelligence and a lack of ethics - ethics were generally for Gryffindors and Slytherins - were not a good combination.

"Rose," Dad said in a patient voice, "don't look at useless sc - scacisits -"

"Statistics, Dad, and they _aren't useless_!" Rose huffed indignantly. Of all the things Dad believed, this had got to be the worst, even worse than his strange belief that red and gold (both colors that Rose detested in large quantities) would turn Rose and Hugo into "proper" Gryffindor Weasleys. She realized belatedly that she was standing, her hand on her hips, and sat down with a sigh. "Honestly, where did you get that idea?"

"You told me yourself," Dad replied promptly. Amazingly, he sounded like he believed it.

"I bloody well did not!" Rose snapped, feeling indignation rise up again. She bit her lip and exhaled sharply, trying to calm the hex she could practically taste, coppery and salty like blood, sour against the memory of the mint. Dealing with Dad was sometimes - usually - like dealing with a child. "How?" She was aware that her voice was overly patient, bordering on patronizing, but seriously, it was like Dad had never grown up.

"You said that statistics say that Slytherins aren't evil, so they're useless," Dad said with conviction.

Rose closed her eyes tiredly, leaning against the back of her chair that was the only reason she wasn't slumping. Only Dad would manage to use such faulty logic. Mum just rolled her eyes when he did it and gave him a piece of cake. She told Rose jokingly that she wished she could shut up the rest of the Wizengamot so easily.

"Are you okay, Rosie?" Dad asked concernedly. "Do you want more mint yarn?"

Rose took another strand, opening one eye to watch the blue, fuzzy piece of yarn as she rolled it between her fingers. She closed it again as she put the mint into her mouth, rough against her for an instant before dissolving again, the cool taste of winter mint tingling against her senses. It was just as good as the last strand had been in seemed to rejuvenate her. She opened her eyes and smiled at Dad. "Thanks, Dad." Even though he had strange beliefs and embarrassed her whenever friends came over, he could still be sweet in his own way.


	3. The First Day

**Summary:** Hogwarts has changed over the years, but it will always be filled with laughter. Anita Wood's first morning of 5th year. Written for the Back to School Competition. Warning: Contains lots of OCs, though most of them are mentioned in previous chapters.

**Disclaimer: **Do not own any schooling system or school.

**The First Day**

"When one comes to good old Hogwarts one must be giveeen a House -"*

Anita Wood groaned, burying her face in her soft pillow, pushing the sides over her ears. _Why_ had she been eager to come back to Hogwarts again?

"Shut up, Katrina!" she heard someone - Cindy? - yell.

"The Sorting Hat sang it!" Katrina protested from somewhere beyond Anita's curtain border. In other words, too far away for Anita to tell without looking.

"And we all hate it for using that awful tune." Yep, it was definitely Cindy.

Anita had barely a millisecond to think _Oh Merlin, she's in for it now_ before Elise's voice rang out, cutting through her thick curtains like they weren't there.

"Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' is _not_ awful!"

Anita gave up on sleep and pushed back her green and silver curtains.

Girls were sitting up all around her in the seven-person dormitory, adjusting their pillows to get a more comfortable view. Most of them were glaring at Katrina, who had already changed and switched on the lights (if there was one thing Anita was grateful to Lily and co for, it was the Muggle-ized lights), fingers twisting her dark brown hair into a neat braid.

Outside, peeking through the window, the Giant Squid had turned up in the still-dark waters, two huge illuminated eyes plainly visible. Beuin had always enjoyed watching them.

"Come on girls," a sensible voice said. Anita didn't need to look to see it was Irena. "Let's just agree that this is all Lily's fault and move on."

It was so typical of Irena to say something like that.

"Seconded!" Elise said brightly, blond curls making her hair look like it had been through a hurricane - and not the "hurricane" they joked Katrina was.

"Throw pillows at her!" Cindy called out. Unlike Elise, _her_ black hair, infuriatingly, looked like she had brushed it.

"YEAH!" A chorus of voices shouted, and pillows, some turning slowly so that Anita could see the green snakes embroidered on the silver material, others shimmering blurs with streaks of barely noticeable green in them, flew through the air as the others pelted Lily. Anita chose not to take part.

"It was Hugo's idea!" Lily's muffled voice protested.

"We'll prank him later," Elise said dismissively.

Anita just laughed helplessly. _This_ was what she had missed about Hogwarts.

Three bedsides away, Lily rolled over to pick up her wand. Everyone else ducked reflexively as she swept it through the air, banishing the pillows to their original owners. "_Why_ did I pick you for roommates?"

A few years after the Battle of Hogwarts, as more and more children began entering Hogwarts, Professor Longbottom had proposed that the students over second year choose their rooms every year instead of getting assigned. There had been protests. Some had said that post-war tensions would never be solved as students separated by allegiance. Professor Longbottom had pointed out that it was a very bad idea to put enemies in the same dorm and that they could be forced to cooperate in other ways that endangered their grades. In the end, he had won, which was how Anita was in a room with a bunch of slightly insane girls.

Sometimes, she wondered what potion Professor Longbottom had been taking.

Beuin tapped the window with one tentacle and all of the girls threw off their covers and jumped out of bed, silver nightgowns crinkled and mussed. It was their agreement with the Squid that he was allowed to watch them and laugh at their expense if he notified them when it was about time to get up.

They piled into the bathroom with its seven sinks, creamy white with silver faucets, seven showers, which Lily had decided to change to purple, and seven toilets, that had nothing special about them except the amount of cleaning spells tied to them.

The sound of water splashing into basins and girls chattering in distorted-by-brushing voices filled the air. Anita and Irena exchanged amused looks.

"I hope we have wandless block together this year," Irena said.

"Good Merlin, yes," Anita agreed. It was okay to have some more…enthusiastic partners for wanded block, but Potions and Herbology were impossible with a steady partner. A thought stuck her. "Do you know what's really strange? The idea that our parents _didn't_ combine their classes like this."

"I know! It just makes sense to put classes like History, Interspecies Relations, and Primary Studies together, and Potions, Herbology and Exercise, and Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense, and of course, whatever electives you're taking. What class replacements are you taking this year?"

"Oh right, we're fifth years now and can choose to take more specialized courses _finally_," Anita said, her eyes lighting up at the reminder. "I can't wait. The electives we used to be able to take were great, but this is -"

"Something else," Irena agreed. "I'm doing Triple P - Psychology, Philosophy, and Physiology for my History class. I'm not quite sure how they put those together, but I'm interested to see how."

"They all hurt your head," Anita said drily. "I'm almost sad that we have so many choices - I could never choose. If I didn't love Quidditch so much - and if it wasn't practically tradition - I would have ditched it to free up time for extracurriculars."

"Oh, I'm so - what are those girls doing?"

Elise, petite and light, was standing on the sink table, waving her toothbrush in the air. Combined with her wild hair, she looked crazy - which she was. It was a good thing the no-wands-in-the-bathroom rule was enforced, because she was balanced rather precariously. "WE ARE THE -"

"Get down, Ellie!" Cindy shouted, and the others laughed.

"NEVER! I SHALL PREVAIL!"

Anita and Irena both looked at the flash of red hair. Lily was the unstated leader in the room, though she was only a third year - probably because she was the best at pranking - but she looked content to just watch and laugh, much like her cousin Rose.

Anita jabbed a finger at Lily. "I practically grew up with that girl, can you imagine? Dad was so mad the first time she beat me to the snitch, back when I thought I wanted to be a seeker. It's a good thing I've always been cut out for a beater anyways."

"How awful," Irena said with a straight face. "My condolences on your loss."

"Of the snitch or my sanity?"

Both girls laughed, rinsing out their mouths one last time. Anita looked down on her splashed pajamas and grimaced. "Ah well, I had to change anyways."

Katrina was sitting on the foot of her bed as they walked out of the bathroom, packed and ready to go. Anita caught a few hummed strands of "Ode to Joy" from under her breath and her hand twitched at her sleeve, where she usually had her wand stuck through two loops. The sixth year brightened as she saw Anita and Irena. "Ready to face the hungry horde?"

She bent her arm as she stretched it and her sleeve went flat, allowing Anita to see the faint outlines of a wand.

"As long as we're armed and you don't try to imitate the real Hurricane Katrina," Lily quipped, coming out.

Anita ducked behind her curtains to change but heard Katrina's response all the same. "Do not dare imply that I live not up to my name," she sniffed.

"It's not something to be proud of," Irena said drily. "Has Elise gotten down from the sink yet?"

Anita pulled on her robes, charmed with a self-adjusting temperature charm that had been recently invented. As she stepped out she saw Lily peep into the bathroom to check. "Yep. Mint yarn, anyone?"

"That's just blatant advertising," Katrina scolded. "Is it blue?"

"If I didn't think blue was the best as well I would call you a traitor for not wanting the Slytherin one," Lily commented, handing Katrina a ball, which she tucked into her pocket, pulling out only one strand to eat for the moment. "And besides, it's free blue mint yarn. Who wouldn't take a bit of advertisement for its sake? Is Miyu _really_ still sleeping?"

Katrina pulled out her wand and parted their seventh dorm-mate's curtains. A corner of the mischievous girl's mouth tugged upwards. "Nah, she's pretending." Another wave of the wand got the blanket off, revealing the girl to be fully dressed.

"Wow, you woke up early for the first day," Cindy said, coming out from the bathroom fully changed.

Miyu snored.

"Well, there's only one option then," Lily said, her eyes sparking. "TICKLE!"

Anita and Irena stood to the side like the sensible and un-evil (sort of) people they were while the other four descended on Miyu, who thrashed around, scoring a few very good hits before they retreated, breathless.

"Now that everyone's _finally_ up, can we go to breakfast?" Anita asked, opening the door to the secret passageway that lead directly to the Great Hall.

"You're no fun, Annie," Elise said, but they all filed out of the door.

Before yelling in joy as the ground below their feet shot up 20 feet and then plunged, sending them on a roller coaster ride to the Great Hall through a tunnel illuminated by shielded torches. It had taken them four years to design and create this, but it was worth every nanosecond.

The floor slid to a stop at the other end and they got off, breathless and laughing. Lily peeked through the peephole on the wall.

"All clear," she said, walking out of the wall. Anita went after her.

It was a surreal feeling, as if walking through putty or jello or water or something. She emerged on the other side in a closet with stacked cleaning materials on one side, brooms on the others. Lily had already gone out, since it was empty. Anita repressed the urge to pick up the broom and try to fly it - resurrecting Snorkack horns (she had gotten the oath from Aunt Luna's children and it had stuck), they were cleaning brooms! Instead, she turned the handle and walked out.

She saw a flash of red hair on her right and turned left instead, going to the Great Hall by a different route.

The sky today was clear, wonderful for flying. At seven in the morning the sun was barely up, and the last traces of pink hadn't cleared from the sky yet. Anita didn't see how Gryffindors managed to stay in their towers on days like this - she would have flown out of the windows at the crack of dawn. Under the high ceiling, translucent ghosts floated over the tables underneath the half-empty high table. Anita waved to Professor Longbottom before heading over to a table to get food.

House Tables were now only used for special occasions. Instead, large round white tables with food and plates on them were placed strategically around the room. Surrounding them were many smaller round tables, once white but since charmed different colors, used to eat and study. As long as it wasn't distracting, students were allowed to decorate the tables to their hearts' leisure.

Anita's group had promptly placed a large rod of Asclepius (sometimes called a Hippocrates staff) in the center of the table. They had received quite a few accusations of trying to "create the new Dark Mark" until Madame Pomfrey's Muggleborn assistant who had studied Muggle medicine practices as well as magical informed them all (while trying not to laugh) that the serpent entwined rod was a symbol of healing. However, said assistant decided to steal the staff, proclaiming it a wonderfully detailed replica, for the infirmary, leaving their table with only a picture burned into the center of the table, marking it as theirs.

Professor McGonagall had firmly forbidden them from conjuring a new one, and so the table remained bare of Asclepius's rod, to their disappointment.

Now Anita headed to the table, balancing a plate full of potatoes and fruit in one hand, a cup of water in her other. She detested meat in the mornings.

To her surprise, their schedules were already on the table when she arrived. It seemed the professors were recognizing that table as theirs.

"Lily, eat something," she said automatically, seeing that the redhead had chosen not to take anything but a glass of juice.

"I'll come for snack later," Lily contradicted. "You _know_ I can't eat in the morning."

"And _I _know that you end up starving midway through your block," Hugo retorted, coming over with his own laden plate. "Hello, Anita."

Anita swallowed, trying not to puke at the smell of meat that her stomach wasn't ready for, but waved her fork at him. She took a bite of watermelon.

"You're up early today, Huge," Elise said as she came over as well with the rest of their roommates.

"Don't _call_ me that!"

"Why? You are," Katrina joked.

Hugo stuck out his tongue gracefully and the others laughed, taking seats. Then they noticed the schedules and only a few quick spells from Lily kept them from grabbing them all at once.

Anita noted that Lily hadn't bothered petrifying her and felt gratified as she deliberately took a schedule, rifling through as slowly as she could. The others couldn't glare at her, but their eyes showed that they were not amused. Because she wasn't quite suicidal, Anita passed out everyone else's schedules as well and Lily unfroze them.

"Isn't there some no-magic-in-the-Great-Hall rule?" Cindy asked.

"We _study_ here, Cindy. The rule is for the hallways," Miyu informed her loftily.

"Oh shut up, Yu."

With the ease of long practice, Anita tuned out her bickering friends and looked at her day. She had wandless block in the morning today. This year, she was taking a class called Poisons and Antidotes which covered poisonous plants, potions, and animals, and their cures. Tomorrow, she'd have wanded block in the morning, for which she was taking Reversing, that basically taught how to undo anything and was the sister class to Poisons and Antidotes. It was a good thing she had already decided she wanted to go on this track, because there wasn't much room for change after you got on.

In the afternoons, she had academic block, which was Triple P, Muggle-Magic History, 5th year Primary Studies, Ancient Runes, and Magic Theory for her. That block split into two, so she had it every day, and it was the only block that you changed classmates within. She knew she was taking some rather challenging courses - probably by next year she would have ditched some of her academic block classes and maybe just take something like MMMM (Mysteries of Muggles, Magic, and the Mind) to cover everything. _And_, because she was taking combined classes rather than the OWL-level classes, she would have to take some review classes to prepare her, just in case. Not to mention she was the Quidditch Captain that year, unusual for a beater. All in all, it would be a busy year.

It wasn't much of a surprise that she and Irena shared wandless and wanded block since they were taking the same courses, but she beamed anyways. Last year, back when her classes were fixed, she had gotten stuck with Elise, Miyu, Cindy, Zigo, and Hugo, all of whom had limited attention spans. They also shared three classes during academic block.

Amazing that Pansy Parkinson's fatherless daughter and Anita had become close friends in the first place. But when Irena came to Hogwarts, Anita had learned that not all children were copies of their parents, especially not when they regularly ran away to play with Muggles. It had been Parkinson's mistake to believe that hiding in the Muggle world, walking distance from the nearest community center, would keep her book-loving daughter away from progressive ideals.

"We can do our homework together!" Anita told Irena happily. "I've heard almost all the classes we chose are amazingly difficult."

"They are," Katrina confirmed. "I did your classes last year. This year I'm on Auror track."

Anita and Irena both winced. She had chosen a track notorious for its number of drop-outs. Besides, if you took that track, you couldn't choose a single class until 7th year, when the best students choose a specialty. It would be tough for her.

"Stop looking like that, you two. It's not like you aren't going for Research track and Reform track," Katrina scolded.

It was true, Anita would do anything to be get into Research track, even ditch Quidditch, and that wasn't exactly easy. Irena, on the other hand, planned to go into politics, and was taking Poisons and Antidotes and Reversal because they were interesting and because Hogwarts didn't offer practical classes for politics until next year.

"We might just not get into any track," Irena said pessimistically.

"And put back your education by a year. How _horrible_, not being able to get a good job as soon as you exit Hogwarts."

Anita repressed a grin. When put that way, it didn't sound nearly as bad.

"Oh look, it's our Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw friends," Irena said, changing the subject smoothly as they waved, taking seats at tables next to them. The Ravenclaws' had a flying eye, the Hufflepuffs' a maze, and the Gryffindors' a fiery lion on their tables.

"The Gryffindor ones, too," an annoyed voice said in her ear. Anita hexed the speaker, knowing it would be James Potter.

She wasn't surprised when he blocked it. "Are you going to give us a good challenge this year for Quidditch?"

"Brave words from the losing team," Anita returned mockingly. "Perhaps _you_ should remember the bludger you hit into your partner."

"You hexed it!" James protested.

Anita hadn't, but it was lovely for him to still believe them. "No proof," she said. Only a brief, amused look at Irena betrayed the half-lie.

"Still maintaining that?" Rose asked from the Ravenclaws' table. Though by now, all of them were sitting in whatever table they wanted, so mixed up that nobody cared.

Maxilla "Maxie" Matic, Zygo's sister, the Hufflepuff beater rolled her eyes at James. "Stop crying foul already, James, you're just a terrible beater."

"Exactly!" Fred said.

"I am not!" James protested at the exact same moment.

Anita smiled and stood. "I think it's time for class." Potions and Antidotes started earlier than any other class because it was so difficult, and today it was starting even earlier, meeting in the entrance hall.

"Yes, I'm coming too," Rose said. "And Scorpius. Albus opted out." She stuck her tongue out at him and received one back.

"That's most of the fifth years in our group," Irena commented as she gathered her books.

"It _is_ the most difficult class," Rose pointed out. "Shall we?"

Anita, Irena, Rose, and Scorpius headed to the entrance hall together. Anita, finally fully awake, couldn't resist singing under her breath.

"When one comes to good old Hogwarts one must be giveeeen a House. There are four in total that you should know befooore I Sort -"

"ANITA!"

The sun was up, and Anita Wood was enjoying her first day of Hogwarts.

*To the tune of Ode to Joy:

_When one comes to good old Hogwarts one must be giveeen a House. There are four in total that you all should know befooore I Sort. One is Gryffindor which you go to if you are brave and chivalrous. Then there's Ravenclaw if you are witty, smart or studious. Next is Slytherin - the house for cunning and ambitious alike. Finally if you're none of the above Hufflepuff will weeelcome you. So I've told you all the Houses put me on I'll teeeell you where._


	4. Nobody Asked

**Summary: **In the heart of the Ravenclaw tower is a very special room. It's called the Room of Intelligence, and could have been pivotal in Wizarding history if its occupants chose. But they didn't choose.

**Disclaimer: **Ravenclaw isn't really that messed up in the books. J.K. Rowling didn't write this.

**Nobody Asked**

The Gryffindor common room is in a tower, red and gold and bold. The Slytherin common room is in the dungeons, green and silver and sly. The Gryffindors watch the forest; the Slytherins the lake. The two common rooms may as well mirror each other, exact opposites as they are.

But for all this, these aren't the most interesting rooms. Apparently, Helga and Rowena did not consult their male comrades when deciding to spice up their own houses. Next to the kitchens is the Sett, yellow and black and welcoming, the occupants cheerfully dumping Stinksap on potential invaders. Inside, continuing the idea of being a sett, tunnels connect the rooms, and it is quite the adventure to try to get anywhere. If you prefer tamer trips, there are short, direct routes. Otherwise, you may find yourself plunging onto a large trampoline or pulling yourself over "tree routes", watching fake animals scurry around you. The few real windows look out the grass and dirt.

And then there's the Ravenclaw Tower, commonly called the Aviary. A riddle greets the students as they enter, but unbeknownst to others, only Professors or Ravenclaw students are asked the question. Inside is an airy, high-ceilinged room that reflects the sky with large windows looking out, the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw proudly standing in the center. A staircase leads to the students' dorms, winding upwards to the sky - or at least the ceiling. If you care to look down, the stairs are always changing, tidbits of knowledge scattered around to those who search. Sometimes these pieces can be crucial to unlocking the more…mysterious aspects of the Aviary.

On the side there are two doors, and it is these two doors that are of interest. One of them leads to a private library, as if having a secret passageway to the school one wasn't enough. The Ravenclaw library has no restricted section, and is the only library in Wizarding Britain to contain Muggle books. Information is information, after all. On the lower levels there are mostly books, tables and chairs placed strategically for studying, a pile of reading aids that prop up and flip your book for you stacked neatly in a corner. On the higher ones are research stations as well as more advanced books. A librarian is not needed in this bronze and blue library because books put themselves away on the rare occasions that students forget.

The other door leads to the coveted, though not one of the mysteries mentioned above, room of intelligence, a name with a double meaning, for only those deemed to have adequate intelligence and intellectual curiosity may enter this room of intelligence-gathering.

And what a room! When you walk in, once you get over the astonishment that there is a great snack bar that includes wizard and muggle snacks and a lot of comfy chairs, the first thing you see is a self-updating map of Hogwarts, complete with secret passageways and secret chambers. But upon closer examination, this singular map is revealed to include the locations of every person in Hogwarts, passwords, and a search and zoom function with different modes! Only four, perhaps five non-Ravenclaws even know about the existence of the room ,and they are all dead, though a pale imitation of this wonderful map wanders the halls of Hogwarts, a legacy of these students.

But that wasn't all. Around it, invitees can pursue scenes from around Hogwarts at their leisure, choosing to watch people as they sneak around, thinking themselves unseen, or rooms as groups congregate, or re-watch their favorite moments of time. For security, these screens blank out the moment a non-invitee enters, even if they somehow discover the password.

Ravenclaws don't like taking risks.

They don't like divulging information either, because the journey is as rewarding as the destination. The Chamber of Secrets may be open, the school in chaos, their housemates panicking - hey, that's what the reclining chairs and popcorn is for. If asked why they don't tell anyone, they look honestly confused. Why _would_ they tell anyone? Nobody asked them.

Typical Ravenclaws.

The room of intelligence, of course, also contains even more books, a direct passageway to the Room of Requirement, special rooms for the invitees, and a lot of wonderful labs to practice. It's like the ultimate clubhouse - for Ravenclaws. But despite all this, what most of the members do is watch the map.

"Finally, Katrina," Rose said, pointing at a dot on the map. She zoomed in on it.

"Hey!" Molly protested. "I was watching to see if Zigo would avoid Peeves and the Professors successfully. He's planting a prank, you know. Use the scenes."

"You use the scenes," Rose muttered, as she went over to the pad that controlled this and dragged the blue box that was the screen closest to her over Katrina with her wand and tied it to her.

Suddenly, the picture on one of the walls shifted to show Katrina Orleans, her braided dark brown hair straight for once, wand oddly not in hand, as she sat next to Lily in one of the chairs around an oval table with other Slytherins. For all that Lily had been a major participant in the pranks, Slytherin was still divided into two. Rose wondered why Katrina was discussing - she wasn't the best diplomat.

Katrina was one of the Potter-Weasley family's "recruits", like Scorpius, though he was more ingrained. She wasn't the easiest person to live with, but when she had a plan, she had a _plan_.

There was a satisfied light in Katrina's eyes, though the argument didn't seem to be going well - stupid Slytherins could say the most idiotic things and actually be convinced of them.

A cutting curse ripped through the air. Lily tapped the table calmly and a sofa moved to intercept it.

"Yes!" Molly cheered. "It worked!"

"Go watch your own person," Rose glared at her cousin, who's eyes were riveted on her screen as she propped herself up on her elbow, leaning behind Rose.

"You couldn't have made it without me," Molly said smugly.

"Dominque designed it," Rose retorted. "You just got it to us."

"So?"

Rose rolled her eyes, though she was jubilant at the success as well. The idea had been basic but seemed impossible. Wands took the wizard's intent and then preformed magic. Wizards were, in essence, only Muggles that could communicate with wands because their brains ran on magic instead of electricity. They also leaked magic, which was how they could make potions and why they had accidental magic as children.

The first step had been simple. They had made buttons that were linked to certain effects that, when pressed, would do that effect. Then they had edited the buttons to be fingerprint responsive. Naturally, it was rather annoying to make a million buttons, but codewords would have been picked up on. This had been debated for ages before the simple answer was proposed.

Wands ran on intent. Why couldn't these buttons?

So they had worked. They had researched wands, talked to the latest Ollivander, and researched some more. Eventually they had created something that could control objects to a certain extent, which looked like wandless magic and so intimidated others. And then they had wanted to make some kind of disillusioned pad that was moveable so they could control anything within 50 meters.

For this, Molly had run to Dominique, who specialized in exotic wards and was better than her father. It had taken her all of a month to complete it and they were seeing the result now.

Rose could see why Molly wanted to watch.

On screen, everyone was gaping at Lily like she was the next coming of Merlin.

"Congratulations," said Dian Zheng, the oldest member of the Room of Intelligence, prefect of Ravenclaw house, and sort-of leader of the room. She held out a large white bowl with rubber duckies spattered all over it to them. A buttery smell wafted out to them. Popcorn. "Want some?"

Rose took the bowl calmly, her eyes riveted on the screen.

"Hey! I was eating that!" another Ravenclaw protested.

"Pop another one, Jake" Rose retorted. "It's not like Dian didn't pop this one anyways."

Jake rolled his eyes in her direction, but waved his wand. It didn't take long for a newly popped bag of popcorn to shoot in his direction and pour itself into another bowl that came just in time to catch it.

Dian just laughed. "We're watching Harry Potter write in the diary in his second year," she offered. "It's hilarious - he's actually using his name."

"What?" one of the new members said in shock. Ellen had gotten pretty quickly the unstated don't-tell-anyone-else-what-you-see rules, but as a Muggleborn who had always been around computers, she was having difficulty remembering that Internet safety rules were not taught in schools. "He used his real name? That's something you never do when talking to someone you can't see the face of!"

"It's wizards, remember?" Jake reminded her. "And back then even Muggles didn't have Internet. So lay off."

"Still, common sense says that he should lie," Ellen said defensively.

"Not something Uncle Harry ever had," Rose coughed.

Ellen shook her head sadly. "And this is the supposed hero of the wizarding world."

"Heros usually owe their successes to dumb luck," Dian said reasonably. "And if we had tried to help -"

The five looked at each other and then shook their heads. "Nah."

Nobody had asked them.


End file.
